Posted by Facts, not reading fiction
a resident of Atherton: West Atherton
on Jun 18, 2014 at 10:07 am

Odd, extreme weather is one of the defining traits of Climate Change -- get used to it, Frosty.

Climate change is a reality, and Americans know it (excluding the freak far right that think oil company "research" is sacrosanct.)

Real science as follows (not Exxon/Koch mythology):

"The year 2013 ties with 2003 as the fourth warmest year globally... This marks the 37th consecutive year (since 1976) that the yearly global temperature was above average. Currently, the warmest year on record is 2010.... Including 2013, 9 of the 10 warmest years in the 134-year period of record have occurred in the 21st century. Only one year during the 20th century1998was warmer than 2013."

Frosty: any comment on the facts? Or are you just going to ignore them again? Engage in dialogue with those armed with facts, or the usual dialogue of the deaf from the right?

Shall we start with this?

"Including 2013, 9 of the 10 warmest years in the 134-year period of record have occurred in the 21st century."

Frosty's MO is to ignore the facts posted about Climate Change and to instead talk about weather. It's a common problem among those who can not grasp complex issues, instead defaulting to the simple logic of simple folk. Prediction - Frosty will never answer the question: "can you tell us the difference between Climate and Weather?"

Juneau Alaska had a patch of warm weather earlier this year making it the warmest January on record - did Frosty acknowledge that? No, of course not; nor should it be used as evidence of anything other than extreme weather possibly caused by Climate Change. Web Link

So it will continue to be a dialogue of a deaf person on the 'simple' side.

Soon Frosty will be touting out the favored lines of his from the past: you are all "liberal lemmings", reading form the "Al Gore Playbook"

Then he'll toss out things he picked up from the Koch backed and discredited Heartland Institute, with silly theories such as "the sun is in a cycle of low activity" and "the tilt of the Earth's axis and its orbit around the Sun." He will talk about 10,000 years ago, and other pseudo "expert" garbage he picks up from exraction funded industries.

Frosty will never explain an answer for the facts, just throw more noise your way.

Frosty: why this - "Earth had its fourth-warmest year on record in 2013, and all of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1998, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported ..."

Posted by pogo
a resident of Woodside: other
on Jun 18, 2014 at 1:17 pmpogo is a registered user.

I propose a deal.

Those who remain unconvinced about man's role in climate change won't point out the oddly cold weather when it happens... if those with no doubt will stop embracing every weather anomaly (drought, hurricane, tornado) as just a sign of things to come.

Neither appears to understand the difference between weather and climate. And the argument isn't over climate change - because change is undeniable. The argument is over man's role and what can reasonably done to mitigate it.

Pogo: "Neither appears to understand the difference between weather and climate."

Despite this statement? "Juneau Alaska had a patch of warm weather ... nor should it be used as evidence of anything other than extreme weather possibly caused by Climate Change."

False equivalency; I stated that weather was not evidence of Climate Change, until we get evidence that the so-called "SuperStorms" (like Sandy) are caused by it.

As to Mankind's role - American are settled on that as well; see today's WSJ poll:

"More than six in 10 Americans said they believe climate change is either "a serious problem" requiring "immediate action" or a big enough concern that "some action should be taken." A quarter of respondents said more research is necessary before policy makers should act, while only 13% said the fears were "unwarranted."

In addition, 57% said they would favor a proposal to curb greenhouse gas emissions, even if it results in higher energy bills. And two-thirds of those polled said they either "strongly" or "somewhat" support new rules outlined by Mr. Obama to set strict emissions caps on coal-fired power plants to significantly reduce carbon emissions by 2030."

Posted by Menlo Voter
a resident of Menlo Park: other
on Jun 18, 2014 at 5:17 pmMenlo Voter is a registered user.

I would hardly rely on the American public's opinion to bolster a scientific argument. This country is woefully full of scientific illiterates, i.e. "frosty." I'm sure you've heard we're having a whooping cough epidemic because the scientific illiterates in this country would rather take medical advice from an ex=Playboy Bunny than an actual medical professional.

Posted by pogo
a resident of Woodside: other
on Jun 18, 2014 at 10:42 pmpogo is a registered user.

I'll respond to your questions as a courtesy but will not engage further. I learned long ago not to debate religion.

"As to Mankind's role - American are settled on that as well; see today's WSJ poll." Actually, your points in that poll do not speak to man's role in impacting climate change... only that it is a serious problem and we need to do something about it.

My points have consistently been: (a) man's role in climate change remains uncertain - correlation is not causation, (b) other factors MAY have a greater impact - note the warming of other planets that have no man-made pollution, (c) I've yet to hear a reasonable, cost-effective solution, and (d) what makes you think today's mean temperatures have to be maintained at all costs - what's may be bad for polar bears and Miami may be good for alligators and Montana (I could have picked other examples, I'm just making a point...).